Sudan Accuses U.N. Panel of Lying

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Sudan accused a United Nations panel on Thursday of fabricating claims that the government was conducting bombing raids in Darfur and disguising planes to look like U.N. aircraft.

The report by a panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions against Sudan accused the government of violating a U.N. arms embargo by flying military aircraft, weapons and ammunition into the western region. It included photos of military aircraft in South Darfur on Jan. 10 and Jan. 30, and of an attack helicopter in El Fasher, a government-controlled town in North Darfur, on Feb. 26.

Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Abdelmahmood Abdelhaleem insisted the photos in the report of a white plane with "UN" marked on its wings were taken in neighboring Chad or other African countries -- not in Darfur. And he said attack helicopters and military aircraft capable of dropping bombs that were photographed in Darfur were there legally.

The ambassador told reporters the report was leaked this week by "the enemies of peace and stability" in the country. He claimed it was aimed at destroying "the very good atmosphere" created after Sudan agreed to the first significant deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur to beef up beleaguered African troops in the vast western region.

"It's a fabricated report," Abdelhaleem said. "They want to settle political scores. They are not interested at all in peace and security in Sudan."

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million made refugees in Darfur since 2003, when ethnically African rebels rose up against the Arab dominated central government. Khartoum is accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing militias known as the janjaweed on civilian populations -- a charge the government denies.

After five months of stalling, Sudan on Monday gave a green light for the deployment of the U.N.'s so-called "heavy support package" to help the 7,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. It includes 2,250 U.N. troops, 750 international police, and logistical and aviation equipment including six helicopter gunships.

The package is the second phase of a U.N. plan to which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir agreed in November, but then backed off. The U.N. and the AU want the heavy package to be quickly followed by deployment of the third and final phase -- a 20,000-strong "hybrid" U.N.-AU force.

The panel's report, obtained Wednesday by AP, was sent to the Security Council sanctions committee, which includes all 15 council members. Its findings were first reported in London's Guardian newspaper on March 28 and in Wednesday's New York Times, which said it obtained the report from a council member.

The sanctions committee gave council members until Thursday afternoon to decide whether the report should be released, and three countries objected so it will not be made public, a council diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.

Abdelhaleem sent a letter to the committee's chairman, Italy's U.N. Ambassador Marcello Spatafora, on Thursday saying Sudan was "shocked and outraged" that the report was leaked. He demanded Spatafora investigate which of the 15 council members was responsible so unspecified "urgent action" could be taken against the country.

Abdelhaleem said the aircraft in question had been returned to Darfur from southern Sudan as required under the January 2005 peace agreement that ended a 21-year civil war between the mostly Muslim north and the Christian and animist south.

"But no aircraft is there to be deployed for military actions in Darfur itself," he said. "It is there because we have a right to have aircraft. It is for us a deterrence from external threats across the borders. It's not from within."

On a map of Darfur, the panel showed over 100 black dots where it said incidents of "aerial bombardment" had taken place between October and January.

"These are big lies, big lies," Abdelhaleem said.

The panel's report also showed photographs of a white Antonov AN-26 twin-engine aircraft with U.N. markings on the left wing at the airport in El Fasher on March 7 and again on March 27.

On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "deep concern" at the panel's report and asked for full cooperation from Sudan's government to clarify reports of aircraft with U.N. marking being used "for military purposes," U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said.

Abdelhaleem said Sudan had informed the U.N. several months ago "it is a transport plane. ... It has no fighting capability at all. There is no 'UN' at all on it."

He claimed the panel's photos were "pictures from Chad, from any country in Africa" -- not from El Fasher or elsewhere in Darfur.

"It is all fake," Abdelhaleem said.